Coldsteel & Rankles: The World on Edge
by Wario the TableMan
Summary: You all know the story about the beast within. nothin personnel...
1. Chapter 1

The wall burst open with extreme force. It was impressive to see that a single stray blast was tough enough to crack through solid steel. This steel-tearing shot, however, was as cold as ice. It didn't melt through the wall as opposed to splitting it at the seams with its tremendous girth.

The launcher of this frenzied discharge was none other than Sonic Fighting Academy's star pupil, Coldsteel The Hedgeheg. He smiled in a rather menacing way as he watched the blast disappear into the distance several cities away. His hand was positively smoking from the chaotic ice scorching his palm with the extreme negative temperatures. He was in the gymnasium with a large group of academy members watching in awe and horror. He turned around and smirked at his audience. They all knew if they messed with him, they would end up in even worse shape than the once fortified walls of the gym.

"He is indeed the strongest one of us all… maybe even combined," said one of the instructors.

"But he's too strong… It's almost like he enjoys that immense power a little too much…" said another.

One of the students mustered up the courage to approach Coldsteel. He was cautious in doing so, but was not going to back away from his strong-willed intentions. "Look, Coldsteel. You've made your point," said the student. "Nothing personal, but you're totally wiggin' out our steez."

Coldsteel said nothing. He just stared down the student who was now standing about three meters before him. A cool wind blew in from the hole in the wall and gently rattled the piercings dangling from Coldsteel's head spikes. Coldsteel smirked and flicked some mucus off from the bottom of his nose with his thumb (it was bothering him just like this kid).

"Coldsteel, we love you for who you are! Don't do this!" called Coldsteel's parents who were also teachers at the academy, but didn't spend enough time with their son because they were workaholics.

"If the time comes, we may have to call in Sonic himself," said the principle to his aide bracing himself as he clenched his cane ever so tightly. "Coldsteel looks up to him. He may be our last shot in reviving his spirits toward justice."

"Coldsteel, you are not a bad guy," called the student again to Coldsteel. "Belay this nonsense and let's just go to lunch!"

The piercings jingled in the wind again.

Suddenly a flash of bright violet shot forth from the young Hedgeheg and his entire embodiment seemingly teleported right in front of the students face.

"Omae wa mou shindeiru…" said Coldsteel darkly.

"NANI!?" cried the student.

But it was too late. Coldsteel quickly chopped the student with a fatal slash and he blew up into a puff of smoke. The explosion was terrifying and everyone screamed as they saw Coldsteel slowly crane his neck away from his kill and direct his keen red eyes toward them.

"I can't believe it!" cried a student. "He just killed Khaoskid!"

"I guess that's what you get for dissing the dude's piercings!" said another.

"Actually… I killed him for another reason…" whispered Coldsteel in an audible way to his audience. "I did it because I hate Pokemon scammers…" Everyone gasped. Coldsteel smirked again and stared down at the chaos he had brought forth. "But hey! I'll just brush it off the same way a Pokemon scammer would…" He thumbed his nose again and cracked his neck. "Psssh… nothin personnel… kid…"

"That's it. We're calling him in," said the principle. "Wanda, get Sonic on the phone…"

"Not so fast, Coldsteel…" said a voice from the crowd. A short green figure emerged from behind two buffer students. He wore no articles of clothing whatsoever other than buckled gloves, but his style was beyond what was considered fleek. In fact, he looked like he was worth well over 1,000,000 pounds. The figure measured about the same height as Coldsteel, maybe shorter. He had a single dreadlock running down each side of his head. His nose was long and pointed as was his slightly crooked tail. To top off his appearance, the chap sported impressively sparkly feet that shone so brightly they looked like overstuffed sea urchins.

"Who's this noodle?" grinned Coldsteel as he shrugged in distaste for the challengers' appearance.

"My name is Rankles the Otter, loyal sidekick of rebellion leader Knuckles the Echidna." He bravely marched up to Coldsteel and stared him in the eye with the white-hot intensity of a thousand suns. "The type of behaviour you have recently been exhibiting has been most appalling. You should be ashamed of yourself!" He let loose a punch straight to Coldsteel's bottom jaw.

Coldsteel absorbed the punch as expected, taking it in full force, but not without damage. He tilted his head back to face the one who dared to challenge him. He smiled evilly as a squirt of blood dripped from the right side of his mouth. "Nice job… that one actually stung a bit… kid…" Coldsteel retaliated with a swift knee to Rankles's gut. Rankles did not have time to react and ended up being launched halfway across the room. He was immediately intercepted by his foe before he landed though, leading to a follow-up that slammed him through the ceiling.

"Psssh… nothin personnel… kid…" Grimaced Coldsteel as he awaited Rankles's plummet to the floor. The young otter never arrived, however, which confused Coldsteel immensely. It bothered him in an insatiable way. He growled and bounded through the ceiling himself. He would search the roof for any signs of the fool's body.

The crowd within the gymnasium gasped again. The principle sighed deeply and beckoned toward the door. "We need to get out of here while we still can," he said. "I shall lead the way to the security bunker. Coldsteel's powers are off the Rouge."

"We can't just abandon him!" cried Coldsteel's mother.

"It will only make matters worse if we continue to ignore the real deal," announced Coldsteel's father.

"I understand your concern, but the current situation is much too dangerous for anyone to attempt reasoning with," said the principle. "I implore you to let that young otter handle this. He's the last hope we have before Sonic can arrive."

With that, the whole crowd exited the gymnasium and made their way to safety. One member did stay behind though, Archbishop Shadow from the Blade Corps. He stared up at the hole in the ceiling and watched as debris tinkled down bit by bit. He displayed a smug grin before turning his back on the scene and regrouped with the others.


	2. Chapter 2

"Where are you… kid?" said Coldsteel as he landed on the rooftop with a hard stomp. "I will gut you. Nothin personnel…"

A green blast of sparkling energy whizzed past Coldsteel. He dodged right before the discharge cleaved his head clean off. The energy blast struck the watertower and knocked it off its legs, resulting in a torrent of water that Coldsteel had to jump to avoid being carried away by.

"Show yourself, coward! I'm not in the mood for hide-and-seek!"

A sudden series of tiny blade-like blasts shot from all directions and surrounded Coldsteel. He was able to dodge most, but a few nicked his crafted pecs and abs. Coldsteel roared as he fell to the ground on all fours and bled out of his cuts. He growled even fiercer when he saw the tears in his JNCO jeans. This farce was growing unimaginably irritating for the galaxy-furred Hedgeheg.

Coldsteel was boiling from within, but only icy steam seeped out of his wounds, healing each scrape instantly. "My healing factor is far superior to anything you have to throw at me, kid…" Coldsteel slowly regained his composure and thumbed his nose. He shivered as the regenerating chills exited his body. "You might as well come out so we can get this over with quick. You're only delaying the inevitable."

Suddenly, like a thunderbolt, Rankles appeared right behind Coldsteel and karate chopped him in the neck with sparkling energy. Coldsteel was launched toward the ground, but did a handspring back to his feet and then dashed toward Rankles. The two exchanged a series of blows that created explosive bursts of chilling energy with every punch and kick met. Neither two was gaining any edge, but it was apparent that Coldsteel's healing factor granted him the advantage. Rankles desperately hoped his own stamina would last long enough to seal the deal.

The two were able to meet a deadlock where neither could advance another punch. Rankles had suspended Coldsteel's arm as did Coldsteel to Rankles's other arm. More frosty chartreuse aura shone out from within their circle of violent strength.

"Why are you doing this, Coldsteel?" growled Rankles. "Do you not believe in withholding the honour and integrity of this beloved academy?"

"Psssh… nothin personnel… kid…"

"You are the strongest of all of the students here, Coldsteel! Stop boasting your power and make sense of this whole ordeal. You are one of us and your corrupted individuality is tainting the entire infrastructure of the morals you swore to preserve in your heart!"

Coldsteel roared and headbutted Rankles in the side with a quit flick of his noggin. Rankles backed off and Coldsteel was able to land a flurry of punches to the emerald otter's face before delivering a sick, nasty finisher. Rankles fell to the ground and was scratched up by bits of sheared metal cast about the rooftop. "I chose the darkness, Rankles… nothing personnel…"

Rankles struggled to rise. He was bleeding all over and was starting to look like a Christmas tree worth 1,000,000 pounds. "Buttz…" he grumbled.

"The darkness is so much more appealing than anything that foolish _hero_ Sonic The Hedgehog has to offer us. I need power… supreme power… Unlimited power! That will make me powerful!" Coldsteel smirked and wiggled his fingers as he said this. Licking his lips, he then turned to face Rankles again. "It's the only way I'll ever be able to surpass that Levi-wearing upstart tookwipe Kevin Robinson!"

Rankles stumbled slightly as he tried to regain complete composure, but he was losing a lot of blood and his body was starting to go numb beyond belief. He should have already died by now, but his iron determination was the one force that kept him from collapsing under all of the pressure.

"And… I'll start showing off just how tough I can be by ending you right where you stand… kid…" Coldsteel then bolted forward charging a sphere of dried ice. He prepared to completely obliterate his foe, but little did he know, this is exactly what Rankles had expected of his foe.

Coldsteel launched the attack only centimeters from Rankles's face, but Rankles managed to teleport out of the way like lightning once again. He ended up being Coldsteel and pulled out two beam swords made of his viridian essence. He sliced all around Coldsteel, chopping off more of his JNCO jeans as well as part of his ear. With his foe in desperation to heal, Rankles slammed the blades into Coldsteel's head and sent a riveting shockwave directly into the Hedgeheg's nervous system. "FEEL ME!" cried the otter warrior.

Coldsteel screamed in agony as the attack janked his reception. He feel to the ground while Rankles drove deeper into his skull. The lightning energy spiraled around them like a deluge of inconceivable voltage. After several ice crystal burst from the core, Rankles bailed on his critical acclaim and left the scene to its explosive end.


	3. Chapter 3

"It looks like I arrived just in time!" said Sonic as he handed Rankles a magical bean that would restore his health. "Thanks to you, the entire academy is gonna be okizzay!"

"I see…" coughed Rankles as he rubbed his sore shiny feet.

Sonic looked over at Coldsteel's dead body. It was still sparking from the energy blades' strikes. "It's a shame really… That kid was such a cool dude. I was hoping he'd be the one guy that would surely get us out of this stupid war…"

"I'm sorry you feel that way… I think his heart was in the right place at first, but once he tasted darkness, his only recollection was his hatred for Kevin Robinson."

Sonic turned away from the body and sat down next to Rankles. It felt good sitting next to someone worth over 1,000,000 pounds for once. Knuckles and Tails were probably worth only twenty apiece after all. "I guess we'll all just have to be more careful. Darkness is a pretty scary thing when it gets control of your mind."

"I just wish there could have been another way…"

"Me too…" Suddenly Sonic felt a bit weird. He coughed a bit and turned to Rankles. "OUCH! Like, really ouch!" he cried as a gush of blood poured out of his mouth. Rankles looked down and gasped as he saw a crystal protruding from Sonic's gut. Sonic fell to the ground unconscious. Rankles was totally freaked out and tried to turn Sonic over.

All of a sudden he felt a light brushing across the side of his face as piercing red eyes peered into his soul. Steady, heavy breath glided across his right side as it approached his auditory orifice. Rankles felt more and more darkness slowly close in on him as the phantom chill surrounded his soul.

With one last audible breath, a creeping voice made its presence known to the young otter. "Psssh… nothin personnel… kid…"


End file.
